Marriage and Divorce

No ! An Israeli court dealing with an application to enforce a foreign judgment will only recognize it if it complies with the strict requirements of the 1958 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. One of the main requirements of this is that the foreign court had jurisdiction to give the judgment. Where one of the parties is domiciled in Israel , and not abroad, then, according to Israeli rules of private international law, the foreign court does not have jurisdiction to give the judgment on issues other than the civil divorce itself . If the couple are only abroad temporarily because the one with Israeli citizenship is only studying there or on a work posting, and ,for example, they have property in Israel, then that party will still have Israeli domicile.

Where both parties are Israelis who have been living abroad for many years , and the centre of their lives is abroad, then the foreign court will have jurisdiction over issues associated with their civil divorce, as well as the civil divorce itself. However, the appropriate rabbinical court in Israel will retain jurisdiction over their divorce according to Jewish law.

Firstly, where a photocopy of the divorce shows the file number , it is very simple to obtain an updated, and authorized divorced judgment on the new format used from the Family Proceedings Department attached to the Principle Registry of the Family Division in Holborn , London. This then needs the “apostille” stamp from the Legalisation Department the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in The Mall, London. This will complete the requirements for the recognition of the divorce, according to the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, which is binding on both the UK and Israel.

 be recognized by the Ministry of Interior provided the necessary authorizations are provided. Both the UK and Israel are bound by the Hague Convention of 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. The divorce judgment will need an “apostille” stamp which can be obtained from the legalisation office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.

The Ministry of Interior will recognize the American divorce judgment provided the necessary authorizations – culminating in the “apostille” – regarding it are obtained , according to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, to which both the US and Israel are bound.

Registration of a foreign divorce judgment at the Ministry of Interior allows a person to change his/her personal status from ‘married’ to ‘divorced’ and is normally sufficient for most administrative/financial acts requiring proof of divorce for various eligibility purposes. However, having a foreign divorce registered at the Ministry of the Interior is of administrative value only – to give it full legal value, it needs to be recognized by an Israeli court.

No ! Providing all the other requirements set down in the 1958 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act are met, an Israeli court will not reject a plea to recognize an ex-parte foreign judgment providing the defendant was given the opportunity to attend , but decided not to exploit it. Jerusalem Family Court emphasized this in September 2004 within the context of a plea to recognize an ex-parte U.S. divorce judgment.

In principle, yes. The Foreign Judgment Enforcement Act of 1958 lays down the procedure and conditions for recognizing and enforcing civil judgments given abroad – within five years from when they were granted.

Israel will only recognize and enforce a foreign judgment if it is from a country which recognizes Israel’s judgments. A foreign judgment covering divorce, child custody, maintenance, visitation rights and property can be recognized and enforced here , but not necessarily at the same court, due to jurisdictional rules. Regarding American Jews, for example divorce judgment can only be recognized and validated at a rabbinical court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over matters of marriage and divorce, but a family court could enforce the judgment relating to the other issues.

Basically the fact that the foreign divorce has not been enforced or recognised in Israel will prevent a person from having the legal capacity to remarry under Israeli law, presuming he would be eligible to do so otherwise. If he did actually remarry he would be liable for prosecution for bigamy under the 1977 Penal Code.